The Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver appointed an official to determine the sufficiency of a petition by Drumheller residents.
The Mail reported in May of this year residents began a petition for an inspection by Municipal Affairs as it related to “1) full disclosure of the flood mitigation plan to the public as a whole including the buyout prices of property, 2) whether the tendering process and award of all contracts have been fair and unbiased (including the contract to Scott Land and Lease and Darwin Durnie Contracting) and 3) whether the grant dollars from the Federal and Provincial governments have been expensed appropriately including those dollars contributed from the municipality’s taxpayers.”
On June 29, the town received a letter from Assistant Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs, Gary Sandberg, informing the town the Minister had received the petition on June 15. A Ministerial Order designated Katie Neufeld to carry out the duties of a Chief Administrative Officer with respect to the petitions.
“The Municipal Government Acts says the CAO is responsible to determine the validity of the petition. Because this was sent to Municipal Affairs about a municipality, they have to assign a CAO,” explains Town of Drumheller CAO Darryl Drohomerski.
He said Neufeld has received from the Town of Drumheller a listing of all of the property owners and utility customers in the Town of Drumheller to determine residency of those who signed the petition.
If the petition is deemed sufficient, and they determine an inspection is necessary, they will issue a directive to the municipality and they could appoint an officer to undertake the inspection. The municipality would be responsible for the expense.
The Town of Drumheller sent a letter to The Minister of Municipal Affairs inviting the ministry to review its program. As of press time, the town has not received a response.

The Honourable Erin O’Toole made a visit to Alberta as part of his Southern Alberta tour, with a stop at the Home Place Ranch in Kneehill County on Saturday, July 10 with some 200 people attending the meet and greet event.
Battle River-Crowfoot MP Kurek opened the meet and greet by thanking John Hamm for the use of the Home Style Ranch, and introducing his fellow colleagues in attendance-Bow River MP Martin Shields, Red Deer-Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshan, and Ontario Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP and agriculture and agri-food shadow minister Lianne Rood.
MP Kurek said it was an honour to have the opportunity to have Mr. O’Toole visit Central Alberta and Kneehill County.
This is the first time Mr. O’Toole has been able to travel to Alberta in the capacity of party leader since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He last visited Alberta as a Member of Parliament in January 2020 when he began his bid for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
“Alberta’s success, Alberta’s prosperity, is Canada’s prosperity,” O’Toole said during his address.
O’Toole spoke to the beauty of Kneehill County, saying he had to stop and take in the scenery, which he said was “truly Albertan,” of a pumpjack standing before a yellow field of canola.
Among the topics of discussion were the impacts of the Liberal government on Canada and, in particular, the western provinces since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected to office in 2015.
O’Toole stated, if elected, he would endeavour to restore fairness for the western provinces. He lamented how Albertans have given more than their “fair share” and one way he would address this imbalance would be to make changes to the current equalization program by giving Albertans an equalization rebate and passing a fair equalization bill.
Other topics which O’Toole touched upon were the impacts to mental health across the country, and job and industry losses due to “Trudeau’s war” on the oil and gas energy sector.
Following his address, Mr. O’Toole took time to answer several questions from the audience. He also took a few moments to personally meet and shake hands with some of those in attendance-something he said he is still unable to do in Ontario.